CONTROL YOUR CREDIT RATING

Your credit rating is an assessment of your creditworthiness. That is how a lender determines whether you will default on credit obligations and how worthy you are to receive new credit. It takes into account a number of factors, including how much you earn, how much debt you have, and how consistent you are with your repayments. Being aware of the pitfalls that can result in a poor credit rating is important to ensure that you can avoid them, says John Manyike, Old Mutual’s head of financial education.